Officers seize E. African narcotic, khat, at Virginia port

A joint law enforcement team seized a large shipment of a narcotic popular… (Photo courtesy of CPB )

November 14, 2013|By Michael Welles Shapiro, mwshapiro@dailypress.com

A leafy drug popular in East Africa popped up at the Port of Virginia.

Acting on a tip, a multi-agency law enforcement team called the Border Enforcement Security Task Force seized about 500 kilograms of khat over two weeks from a mail facility at one of the Hampton Roads terminals that make up the port.

A news release from the Norfolk-based Customs and Border Protection agency estimates that the officers' haul was worth more than $200,000.

Khat, according to CBP, comes from a shrub native to East Africa and southern Arabia. "Leaves of the shrub are typically chewed and held in the cheek to release their stimulant chemicals," the release states.

"The Drug Enforcement Administration classifies khat as a Schedule 1 narcotic," the release continues. That's the same category as is used for heroin.

A review of recent news articles indicates that illicit shipments of khat to the U.S. and Canada are not infrequent, though the Hampton Roads seizure was larger than a number of others elsewhere in North America.

In June 2012 a law enforcement operation in Minnesota turned up records showing that 380 pounds, or 172 kilograms, of khat was shipped to Cambridge, Minn., a town less than an hour north of Minneapolis. Minneapolis has large Somali and Ethiopian communities.

In late August Canadian Border Services Agency intercepted an air cargo shipment from the U.K., taking 160 kilograms of dried khat. It was the largest such seizure for the year for that agency.

Khat is legal in a number of Horn of Africa countries, including Somalia and Ethiopia, in Yemen. Until July of this year it was legal in the U.K.

"Khat remains an illegal substance in the United States and as such, Customs and Border Protection officers and BEST remain vigilant to intercept khat and other illicit and dangerous drugs at our nation's borders" said Mark J. Laria, the Custom and Border Protection area port director in Norfolk.

"These enforcement actions demonstrate how law enforcement agencies working together can and will disrupt and dismantle smuggling organizations' efforts to bring their illicit goods into the United States," said Scot R. Rittenberg, acting special agent in charge, with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations directorate.